Failure to Identify to a Police Officer: Laws & Penalties

Law enforcement officers routinely ask people for their names and
other identifying information. Police may ask for the information as
part of a specific criminal investigation. At other times, they may need
the information to protect themselves, allowing them to determine
whether the person they are speaking with has a violent criminal
history. Many states have made it illegal to refuse to provide certain
identifying information to a law enforcement officer when the officer
has properly requested it.

Is It a Crime to Refuse to Identify Oneself to a Law Enforcement Officer?

In
some states, a person questioned by a law enforcement officer is not
required to respond. However, many states have passed
“stop-and-identify” laws. These laws permit a law enforcement officer to
stop a person suspected of criminal behavior and ask for
identification. Failure by the person stopped to respond is a violation
of the law and can lead to arrest and charges.

Some states do not
have stop-and-identify statutes. Related statutes in these states vary,
and some require a person to respond to the officer’s request for
identification, and some do not. However, if a person does voluntarily
elect to answer, providing false information is usually a crime.

In states that have stop-and-identify laws, the prosecutor has to prove two things in order to get a conviction:

the law enforcement officer lawfully stopped the defendant, and

the defendant refused to identify him or herself.

When Can a Law Enforcement Officer Stop Someone?

Before
a police officer can properly stop a person and ask for identification,
the officer must have a reasonable, articulable suspicion that a crime
has occurred or is about to occur. This means the officer must be able
to state facts and circumstances that would lead a reasonable person to
believe that a crime occurred or will soon. For example, if an officer
observes a car driving lawfully in the early morning hours, those facts
alone are not sufficient to indicate that a crime occurred, and the
officer could not properly stop the vehicle. On the other hand, if the
officer had information that a car of the same color, make and model,
and with the same number of occupants, just left the scene of a near-by
crime, the officer would have specific facts suggesting that a crime
occurred involving the occupants of the car and could lawfully stop the
vehicle.

When Can a Law Enforcement Officer Request Information?

As
long as a law enforcement officer’s detention (stop) of a person is
legal, the officer is always free to ask questions. As discussed above,
in some states the person stopped must provide identification, while in
other states the person stopped is not required to respond.

How Much Information Must the Person Stopped Provide to the Law Enforcement Officer?

While
the answer varies by state, all states with stop-and-identify statutes
require that the person stopped provide at least a name. Some states
also require the person stopped to provide an address. Other states
simply require that the person stopped not provide false information. In
these states, the person stopped is not required to answer the law
enforcement officer.

Defenses

A number of defenses are commonly raised by those charged with failure to identify to a police officer.

The law enforcement officer improperly stopped the defendant

As
previously discussed, a law enforcement officer must have reasonable,
articulable suspicion that a crime has occurred or is about to occur. If
the law enforcement officer stops the defendant without a reasonable
belief that a crime has occurred, the prosecutor cannot use the
defendant’s refusal to answer as evidence of failure to identify to a
police officer.

The law Is unconstitutionally vague

Some
prosecutions for failure to identify to a police officer are based on
vagrancy laws. Such laws attempt to address issues such as loitering,
panhandling, and public drunkenness by homeless or other persons who
have no visible means of support. In a number of cases, vagrancy laws
have been struck down by the courts for unconstitutional vagueness. This
means that the law does not adequately describe the activity that has
been made criminal.

An answer would violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment rights

The
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that a
person cannot be compelled to provide self-incriminating testimony. In
many instances, providing identification to a police officer would not
be self- incriminating. However, in other situations disclosing one’s
name might alert the officer to outstanding warrants or criminal
charges. The United States Supreme Court has not ruled on whether
providing one’s name in response to police questioning on the street
constitutes “testimony,” thereby bringing the exchange within the
protection of the Fifth Amendment. State courts have ruled
inconsistently. So whether this defense would apply in a particular
state depends on how that state’s courts have ruled on the issue.

Penalties

Failure
to identify to a police officer is usually a misdemeanor offense.
Someone convicted of this crime can be subjected to any or all of the
following penalties:

Incarceration. For
misdemeanors, sentences may involve 12 months or less in the county
jail, depending on the state. The judge may require that the entire
sentence be served in jail.

Fines. Courts impose fines to penalize defendants. These fines vary greatly, and can be as much as $1,000.

Probation. A
person on probation regularly meets with a probation officer and
fulfills other terms and conditions, such as maintaining employment and
attending counseling.

Community service. Courts
often include as a part of probation the requirement that the defendant
volunteer for a specified number of hours with court-approved
organizations, such as charities.

See a Lawyer

If
you are facing a charge of failure to identify to a police officer,
consider consulting with an experienced criminal defense attorney who
regularly practices in your area. A lawyer can evaluate the strength of
the prosecution’s case against you and help develop any defenses you
might have. For example, if you believe that a law enforcement officer
improperly stopped you, you will want the assistance of an attorney in
developing this defense. Moreover, if information you provided to the
police after an illegal stop led to your arrest for a separate crime, a
lawyer may successfully prevent the prosecution from using against you
the information you provided in response to the police officer's
questioning.

And if you believe that your state allows you to
refrain from answering by claiming the protection of the Fifth
Amendment, you’ll need to know whether that defense is available in your
state—an attorney should be able to help you with that question.

A
lawyer’s skillful negotiation with the prosecutor can sometimes result
in a reduction of the charges and in lower fines. A local criminal
defense attorney, who knows how the prosecutors and judges involved in
your case typically handle such cases, can assist with these
negotiations. And if you decide to go to trial, having a good lawyer in
your corner will be essential.